The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) has granted a two-week extension for the deadline to comment on its consultation on the proposed framework for an independent dispute resolution service with binding authority, presumably the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI).
With the Sept. 29 deadline, the CSA seeks to give stakeholders and other interested parties enough time to review the proposal and give meaningful feedback, while ensuring timely progress with a critical policy initiative, according to the CSA’s news release.
The CSA reiterated that its consultation centres on the proposed oversight model and process refinements to the dispute resolution service for investor complaints.
The CSA urged stakeholders to submit their input by the new deadline. The CSA noted that the imposition of a final framework would depend on whether the different provincial and territorial governments would enact enabling legislation.
Background
In its news release, the CSA shared that it published its proposed oversight model and process refinements on July 15. The CSA initially provided a 60-day consultation with the deadline of Sept. 15.
According to the CSA’s July 15 news release, the consultation covered its plans for:
- an oversight model to balance between OBSI’s independence and accountability
- refinements to the review and decision stage of the dispute resolution process
- changes to the second-stage review of the dispute resolution process for OBSI compensation recommendations for $75,000 and over, with OBSI obligated to appoint external decision-makers to review recommendations before finalizing the decision
“Introducing binding authority for investment complaints is important to ensure investors have the ability to seek access to an impartial, fair and efficient dispute resolution process, and to give more certainty to businesses over the outcome of claims,” said Stan Magidson, chair of the CSA and chair and CEO of the Alberta Securities Commission, in the prior news release.
Magidson added that the proposed changes were meant to update the structure of Canada’s capital markets and streamline the complaints process, which would ultimately benefit investors and businesses.
In its notice and request for comment, the CSA suggested that stakeholders could respond to the following specific questions:
- Is $75,000 an appropriate threshold amount to require OBSI to appoint an external decision-maker or a panel of external decision-makers at the second stage?
- Does setting a monetary threshold for the requirement to appoint an external decision-maker at stage two impact the accessibility of the proposed framework for investors?
- What are the potential advantages and disadvantages of permitting OBSI to appoint senior OBSI staff not involved in the first-stage process to a panel conducting the second-stage process in cases that meet or exceed the proposed monetary threshold, if the majority of the panel comprises external decision makers?
- Does the oversight framework strike the appropriate balance between ensuring OBSI’s accountability and maintaining OBSI’s organizational and decision-making independence?
- What would the impact be of maintaining OBSI’s current six-year limitation period?
As the council of the country’s securities regulators, the CSA works to coordinate and harmonize regulations for the Canadian capital markets.